NEW RIVER — Generations of Marines gathered in advance of the anniversary of an act of terror that claimed hundreds of lives 30 years ago.

In front of a theater full of Marines and sailors from New River on Friday, veterans of the Beirut bombing shared personal stories from the Oct. 23, 1983, blast, as well as the days leading up to and following the attack. More than 240 Americans were killed during the blast and more than 100 were injured when a truck packed with explosives drove into the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, and detonated, collapsing the building.

During the presentation, Danny Joy, 57, of Jacksonville, explained how he was affected by the blast that took the lives of many of his peers and friends. Positioned 1,000 meters from the blast at an observation post within the city of Beirut, Joy recalled seeing smoke and feeling helpless not knowing how he could help or even what had happened. It wasn’t until he heard chatter on the radio that he knew the magnitude of what had just transpired, he said.

“Our history as Marines is our legacy,” Joy said. “The Corps is all about history, and if we forget our history and traditions then we have lost what we have stood for ... the Corps’ history isn’t just about stacking bodies like cord wood in famous battles. It’s about the lives lost too.”

Other speakers included historian Rob Bower, Navy chaplain Lt. Cmdr. Bryan Crittenden and Dan Cuddeback, a retired sergeant who was near the barracks when the attack occurred.

One corpsman in the audience said that when he heard about the event, he felt compelled to come and learn something from the Marines’ experiences.

“The Marines’ personal experiences from witnessing the explosion and them trying to understand the chaos that was happening on the radio hit me the hardest,” said Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Berkley, 28, of Ponca City, Okla. “It’s very hard to imagine being as I wasn’t there, but seeing the emotion the speaker had while he told the story — it hit hard.”

Berkley said these types of presentations are important, especially as those who were there continue to age.

“As it gets older and older, there are going to be less and less survivors, which make presentations like this even more important,” he said. “We should celebrate the lives and remember the losses. It’s our responsibility to remember how they acted and did what they were trained to do.”

For 1st Lt. Sarah Burns, organizing this event was something she felt needed to be done to make sure Marines do not forget or ignore what happened in Beirut, especially given the amount of support the military and civilian community shows in Jacksonville, she said.

Burns said she wished every Marine walked away with a sense of pride in the Marine Corps, their country and the Jacksonville community. Hearing personal stories such as the ones told Friday mean a lot to Burns and makes her proud of what she is doing as a Marine, she said.

Page 2 of 2 - “This needed to be done because it’s part of our history as Marines,” said Burns, 24, of Rochester Hills, Mich. “We have such an amazing opportunity to embrace our history because of the deep veteran population in Jacksonville. Everyone has a story to tell and it’s important as Marines to hear our history from those who were there.”

Getting up in front of them and telling their stories wasn’t easy, according to Joy, and he hopes that the Marines walk away with a clearer picture of what happened 30 years ago.

“To us as Beirut veterans, our motto is ‘Our first duty is to remember,’” Joy said. “A lot of the parents said this is the last year they’ll come (because of age to the ceremony) so it’s important to remember who we are as Marines and continue on with the legacy and pray something like this never happens to us again.”